


Once Bitten, Twice Saved

by pandabrite



Category: the adventure zone
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, M/M, Modern AU, Modern Era, Vampire AU, and if it's making softboi vampires then so be it, it's my fanfic and i'll do what i want
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24546997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandabrite/pseuds/pandabrite
Summary: Barry J Bluejeans has been a peaceful vampire for years. He's followed all the rules, and has never hurt a soul. All of that changes when he's attacked by a Vampire Hunter named Kravitz-- he makes a mistake that will permanently change his life, and Lup and Taako's, forever.
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Lup & Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey long time no see ao3. i've been sitting on this fic ever since november for national novel writing month. i didn't actually finish it at the time, but i have several chapters that are just chilling in my drafts so i figured, you know what, why not post them now? i hope you enjoy this weird moderny/vampirey spin on blupjeans. no cc please. im just doing this for fun.

Someone was running.

It was so close, it was so loud. He could hear his own heavy footfalls as he sprinted. Everything was too loud. Everything was too bright and too loud and it hurt. It hurt. 

His head was throbbing, his ears were ringing and spattered drops of blood littered the pavement behind him. 

He was running. 

A stout, middle-aged man nearly collided with the side of a building as he rounded a corner, skidding in loafers not necessarily made for running. He held a wound on his arm that had mottled his button down with the inky stain of blood that tried to coagulate much too quickly.

He wasn’t made for this. He’d never run like this, not since grade school. If he didn’t escape, he’d die, wouldn’t he?

Funny, he sort of thought being a vampire would, like, prevent that somehow.

He was panting, the air coming in short, cold gasps. 

“Wh… why are you chasing me!? What did I do!?” He managed to gasp, shouting back as he rounded another corner.

At first, there was no answer. In fact, it looked as though nothing was even chasing him at all. Then, the ground behind his fleeing steps split open, the alleyway echoing with the scrape of metal against pavement.

“You can’t hide from me, Barry J Bluejeans!” A voice in the darkness boomed.

Barry groaned, desperation clawing through his system, senses muddled with sharp lights and smells and panic-- panic-- 

“I’m not hiding! I’m-- I’m running!” He croaked through gasps.

Faster than any human, he ran. To Barry, it was a clumsy gait, a struggle. But to a normal human, he was a blur, darting around corners, an inhuman but so very human man. 

A vampire hunter? A monster? A monster vampire hunter?

He didn’t understand. He’d been so careful. He’d been so safe. 

Visits to clinics to get donated blood for sustenance. Working a night job to avoid the sunlight. He’d never hurt a soul. He’d never used any of his powers for evil. He had been so, so careful. And now he was being punished, for what? 

What had he done so wrong besides having the audacity to do his best?

A monsterous, cloaked figure, wreathed in darkness had cornered him on his early morning walk home from work, declaring his end, that his mark had been found. Was this really it? Was this how he was going to die after doing his very best to survive for so long?

The wound ached. It was trying to heal. It couldn’t. He hadn’t fed since the day before, and usually, that was fine. But a wound complicated things. A wound awoke the instincts he fought so very hard to mask. A wound brought forth the monster he was being accused of being.

Walls and alleys flew by as nothing but a cacophony of vivid sights and scents and sounds. His own feet were too loud, his head pounding was too loud, everything was too loud.

His pupils were slits, though he couldn’t see them. His hands, they were clawed, he could see those.

Barry threw himself up a ladder, injured arm causing him to fumble halfway up. He forced himself up the side of the building and onto the roof, where he ran to the other edge and hesitated-- it was easy to feel so, so human.

But he’d be fine. 

He leapt off the side, skidding into another alleyway. The ground was slick. He lost his footing. In a much more human moment of graceless movement he fell on his back and slid through the alley and collapsed into an overturned dumpster.

Barry lay there amongst the filth, head ringing. It smelled. It smelled so awful. He ached, his mind buzzed-- hungry, scared, desperate, he fought to keep the human thoughts, but they muddled with unfamiliar, voracious thoughts that said fight, that said attack, that said kill.

Though his mind rang, the world around him had grown quite still. He couldn’t hear the silence.

He couldn’t hear the sound of footsteps.

“What the fuck was that?” A voice quietly mused from nearby. 

He heard that. That voice wasn’t the same.

And just like that, the scent of hot, hot garbage was penetrated by a much softer smell. The smell of a faint perfume, the smell of fire, the heat of flesh. A pair of bright eyes loomed at him from the semi-darkness, an elven woman stood above him, hand lifting the dumpster lid so that she could get a good look at him.

“You good, garbage man? Pretty sure trash day’s Tuesday, so I think you’re early, and, um… Kinda taking this a little bit literally, right?” Her voice lilted through the air as she spoke, but her words were quite whisper among his other senses.

She smelled good. He recoiled.

“Get away from here. Get away from me.” He heard himself speak as if he were far away.

“Woah, woah-- are you-- you’re hurt, aren’t you?” She spoke with an edge of concern, but there was also a new carefulness to it. Her ears shot up, quivering, and she gazed around, presumably for an attacker, “Let me help you--”

“I said get away from me!” He croaked this time. She had leaned closer. Her scent was almost noxious. She was warm, warmer than any other elf. She was warm and she was delightful and her bright eyes bore holes through him and he wanted to stifle those eyes.

Kill her. Heal yourself. You’re hurt. You need to heal.

“I promise I won’t tell anyone you ended up in the garbage. Look, I’m being so kind, right? I’m going to help the stink man out of the trash pit.” She didn’t seem worried about his warnings, though her body language was tense.

She reached for him. He didn’t know how to react.

He shoved her. 

She didn’t seem to have been ready for that. 

He wasn’t either. 

She stumbled back onto the ground, and when she hit the ground, the palm of her hand scraped the pavement.

Everything happened so quickly there was no time to react.

Barry couldn’t really remember the events that followed. He’d given way to the monster in a way he had never, not since being a fledgling. Not since he was first turned. Not since the violent urges he disavowed years ago.

She couldn’t fight back. 

He’d hit her like a truck. The force of impact slammed her to the ground and her scream died in her throat. 

Barry had never bitten something alive before. Her throat was sweet and her fear was intoxicating. He held her wrists, and though he felt his skin burning as he held her, it meant nothing to him. Nothing mattered but his teeth sinking into soft, warm flesh. 

It was over as soon as it had begun. 

When Barry came to, it was through clouded vision he saw the consequences of his actions for the first time. It was bright red. It smelled copper and sharp.

The elven woman who had to kindly stopped to check on him lay splayed on the pavement, throat bruising, covered in blood, her gaze locked on his face through heavy lids. She was moving her mouth, but he couldn’t hear her, the blood he’d taken from her rushed to his head.

“No-- no no, no no no no no…” He begged, grabbing the fallen elf’s face, “oh my God-- I--”

Her voice finally broke through the buzzing of his thoughts, a quiet croak and a weird smile on her lips, “Guess…. You didn’t need my help… huh?”

“I’m-- I-- Please don’t die-- I… I can’t-- I--”

“I… hey, can yo…” She coughed, he’d bit her so hard her esophagus quivered as she tried to speak, “I…” 

“St--... stay with me--” What did he do? Did he call the police? An ambulance? She was dying. He could smell it on her. The air was cold around her body, where it had once burned brightly. The ground near her hands, he realized, was burned, charred black-- she’d been using fire to try and escape his grasps.

“... I want to talk to my brother.” Her voice was just a whisper.

“Don’t die-- I… Hey, how do I--”

“...” Her lids fluttered, she took a gasp of a breath.

He had to save her. He couldn’t let her die. He couldn’t let her die. He did the only thing he could think of to save her.

Barry bit his own hand. He felt his teeth tear through his own skin, though his fangs were much smaller now, they were still sharp, they still did the job. His hand shook as he pressed the wound against her lips.

Now he was a monster, wasn’t he?

“It’ll be okay-- I’m sorry… What’s your name..? I’m gonna help you, I… I’m gonna help.”

She sputtered at the taste of his blood, wheezing, her head thrashing to the side.

“Please-- hey, stay with me, what’s your name..?”

She coughed, and her chest shook, “... Lup.” It was a faint whisper.

“Lup, I don’t know if you can ever forgive me for this, and that-- that’s okay, I… This is gonna hurt, I’m pretty sure. I remember it hurting. I… I’m not gonna let you die here, I’m… I’m so sorry.”

That was the last thing Lup remembered hearing, staring up through blurry vision at a man’s soft face, tears in his eyes, blood smeared across his mouth as he watched her with such a human desperation that it almost made her wonder if what he had done to her had really happened.

And then pain found her.

In the cold early morning, before dawn had even crested the horizon, a man held an elven woman as she experienced what would be the last her last mortal moments as a normal elf. He sobbed, a croaked weakness, a defeat so sound he wished that the entity hunting him had caught him before he could do something so ghastly to someone innocent.

The sun would rise soon. And when the sun’s rays finally reached the patch of alleyway they had been in previous, they were gone. The only evidence burned ground and a smear of blood left on the dirty pavement.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup wakes up in a strangers home and has to quickly come to terms with the fact that she’s now a vampire and the man who turned her isn’t as he seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter twooooo. i was gonna wait a week to post this but it’s Saturday we can be wild, right?

She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious. 

The only thing she had known for the last innumerable span of time was pain. 

Lup’s body had died. But only in the superficial way in which a vampire dies… and yet, the experience of death in many ways is much worse than that of a mortal demise. There’s a clear end, a peacefulness that follows a mortal death.

For Lup, it felt as though her pain may never end. Her muscles burned. Her organs suffocated. Her bones ached from the marrow. Her veins constricted. Her brain felt too tight for her skull. Her heart too bloated for her chest.

And then it stopped. It wasn’t a calm, relaxing sort of ending, but one that fell cold.

Her eyes snapped open.

She was disoriented, for a moment she didn’t even know who she was, much less where she was and what had happened to her. Her whole body was stiff, and her vision, her vision was broken. Everything was blurry and bright, and even though the only light came from a crack in a door nearby, it felt blinding as a flashlight being shone directly in her eyes.

Was she hungover?

She had hardly any more time to process than that when the door to the room slid further open, and in the increased brightness she recoiled— fuck, if the light hurt that bad, she must have been real fucked up.

“Oh, shit— I thought I felt you wake up… sorry, uh, here—“ the bright light turned off.

But Lup, she hardly noticed it.

That voice. She saw him, through the dark, but it wasn’t just elven night vision, no, he was in color, vivid, sharp. Her vision wasn’t broken anymore, no, it was too strong. His movements were sluggish to her gaze as he approached, though he moved at a normal speed.

“Stay away from me.”

She was ready for a fight. Ready to attack. Her hands were twisted into what she realized now was a bedsheet.

But a fight never came. 

He stopped, hands lifted, and instead took a step back.

“Alright. I won’t. I… how are you feeling..? I do sort of need to talk to you, I— I’m sorry, but I do.” He was meekly muttering, eyes darting from her to his own hands to the floor.

“I feel like I really don’t want to hear anything you have to say, my man.” She sounded surprisingly languid about it, considering the heat of her gaze and the rigidity of her body language.

Escape, she needed to escape. He attacked her. He kidnapped her. He was putting on this meek, sad front now, but that was obviously a ruse, right. It had to be. 

But his question sat strangely with her. He’d asked how she felt, and by all accounts, she should feel awful, right? Hurt. Neck torn open. Esophagus crushed. Back bruised.

She felt fine. Wildly fine. 

It clicked.

“... wait.”

Barry continued as if he hadn’t heard her, “trust me, no, I get it… I— I wouldn’t want to listen to me either, um… I… I never wanted this, I never wanted to hurt anyone, much less this.”

“You….” Lup was pointing at him, shaking her hand, “you bit me. Like a vampire. Right, you’re a vampire, for real. Did you— am I—“

Barry looked down at the floor, he didn’t look up. In this instance, he looked so, so very small. After what felt like an eternity of silence, he nodded.

“I’m sorry. I… I had to save you. I didn’t know what else to do. I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but I’d never bitten anyone before, I’ve been so careful. I just…” His voice cracked, “I failed. And you suffered for it. I can’t ever ask you to forgive me, that wouldn’t be fair, but I couldn’t just let you die.”

Lup stared at him, and as she listened, as she watched the way his knuckles grew white from clenching each other, the tears on the edges of his lashes, the redness of his nose and ears… she decided she believed him. 

She relaxed.

“So you thought kidnapping was a better option?” She sounded goading.

Startled, Barry tore his eyes from the floor and gazed at her, “I… Er…”

“So, my Nerdy Nosforatu, am I a blood sucker now too? Is that what you did?” She was busy looking at her hands, which even though she had relaxed, were still tipped with sharp claws, much sharper than her own, natural nails. 

“... yeah.” He paused, “Yeah. I… I realize that wasn’t my choice to make, but… you were dying, I…”

“Didn’t want blood on your hands?”

Barry’s frown creased his brow, “I didn’t want to take your life. I don’t… didn’t, I guess, I didn’t want to be a monster. I never wanted that.”

“But you did, right? Take my life. I’m not alive, right, that’s sort of how it do, sort of the living dead. Reanimated blood sucking corpse, am I ticking all the list or like am I missing something here?”

She sounded so flippant. He was stunned.

“... yeah, I guess I did. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a choice… I’m sorry I even had to make the decision.”

“Well, whatever, it’s done now, right? That ship done sailed. So what now? Like, am I your vampire love slave? Do I need to go feast on the innocent? The not so innocent? Do I get super powers? What’s my new stats, dog, start talking.”

“Um— I—“ 

Lup clicked her tongue, expression serious, “Details.”

Silence hung between them for a moment before he swallowed and nodded, “Okay. First question: No, you’re not. At all.” His ears were red at the insinuation of a Love Slave, yeah right. 

“Second: You don’t have to feed on, uh… anyone, at all. I mean, unless you want to, but I don’t really recommend it, there’s a lot of reasons not to… most of us just get blood from donation centers…”

“... what?” Lup questioned flatly.

“Y-yeah, like big ol’ um… vampire Capri Sun, I guess. Before… last night… I’d never bitten anyone… always just blood packs.”

“... that’s. Wow, that’s super boring.”

“You asked!” He tugged his shirt collar, “but as for the third question, yeah, to an extent, you—“

Lup leaned forward, “Go onnnnn.”

“— you have heightened senses. You have advanced healing. You’re stronger and faster and don’t need to eat. You can charm people. You, um… you have to drink blood now, yeah… you you’re immortal.”

“... huh.” Lup leaned back and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. Really soaking in that information.

“So… not hearing a lot of cons. There are cons, right? Everything has a con.”

“Yeah,” Barry nodded, “there’s… a few. You can’t be out in the sunlight. You, um… you can’t stand under running water. You need blood to survive… you… can’t enter someone’s home without being invited.”

“... so my career as a robber is ruined then, huh?”

“I’m gonna choose not to believe that, but if it were true, yes, I guess it would be.”

“Wow, that’s a shit load of stipulations huh, but… but other than that, seems pretty sexy, right?”

“... what?”

“Like, being a vampire, it’s lowkey kind of hot, right? People are super horny for that sort of stuff. I’m a sexy badass blood sucker.”

Barry was rooted to the floor, flabbergasted, unable to process the 180 this now vampire elven woman had just taken.

“You’re… you’re okay with this..? Like, you… you’re good?”

Lup considered it for a moment before smiling, “I kinda have to be, don’t I?”

“Ah… Yeah… I guess so.”

“Might as well see the positives. I’m stuck with it. So, immortal, crazy strong and sexy, charming, not that I wasn’t already, and… hey, wait, running water? Seriously?”

“Mhm.” Barry nodded.

“How the fuck do you shower?”

“Very carefully.”

“Gross.”

Barry fidgeted, “I’m surprised you’re being so calm about this, and more than that, I’m surprised you aren’t ravenous. You don’t feel hungry at all..?”

“Well, I’m peckish. I guess.” She frowned suddenly, “So… like, I know I don’t need to eat food, but… can I eat food?”

“Ah… uh, you can. It doesn’t taste like much. If you eat too much it’ll make you sick.”

“Oh… man, that’s…” she pressed her knuckles against her lips and stared off.

Wow, Barry was shocked. That was… the most upset he’d seen her since the beginning. Over… food? Which, yeah, he got it. He totally did. But… out of all the changes, that was what was too much for her?

“That’s rough.” She looked utterly crestfallen, “He’s going to be crushed.”

“... he?”

Lup looked startled, like she’d forgotten Barry was even there, “oh, uh… sort of a personal problem I guess. My brother is a chef. We both really love cooking, but for him, it’s like a livelihood. I, uh… won’t really be able to share food with him anymore.”

“Oh.” Barry inclined his brows. She sounded really upset, “I’m sorry. I… I truly am.”

“I believe you.” She stated matter-of-factly.

“... yeah?”

“Mhm. You didn’t mean to do it. That’s what you keep saying. But why did you do it? If you’re not dangerous, why did you attack me, of all people? Why did I find you covered in Father Johnathan’s Pizzaria’s garbage?”

“Ugh, is that who that dumpster belonged too? Yikes.”

“Spill the beans, Count Nerdula.”

“It’s Barry.”

“Spill!”

“I was being chased. I— I don’t know what I did or why this guy was after me. I’m so low profile, I mean look at me, do I look like a fucking vampire?”

“No, you look like you should be wandering around an office max trying to find the right toner for your printer.”

“Exactly! And that’s just how it is! But he found me out of nowhere, some monstrous power, he attacked me and almost took my arm off… I’ve never been hurt like that before, and… it made me lose to the monster, Lup. I… It was a circumstance I never expected, so I wasn’t prepared for it.”

“Well, that certainly makes two of us.” Though there was no contempt to her tone, it was filled with a certain degree of sadness. 

Silence hung between them.

Lup stared at her own hands, the shiny black claws dangerous. She wondered what hunger would feel like now, what… what her life would be like now. She hadn’t had the time to wrap her head around this transformation and all of the implications, and though she couldn’t process them all at the time, she knew they would come to her in waves. 

Barry went to speak after a time of fidgeting, but right as he opened his mouth, a song began playing in the room.

“Oh-- um,” Lup looked around, “Do you know where my phone is..?”

“Yeah, should be right behind you on the bedside table. Is that the Thong Song?” He furrowed his brows, bemused. 

“Maybe.” Lup moved to grab her phone, but her movement was too quick. Her hand sliced through the air and she nearly threw herself from the edge of the bed.

Barry gasped and fumbled forward to try and catch her, but she steadied herself, “Good fuckin’ God, that’s wild.”

“Yeah, it’ll take some getting used to.”

Lup finally snatched her phone with much less force and swiped the screen.

“Oh, you are alive,” drawled a voice from the other line, which Barry could hear quite clearly.

Weird, the voice sounded uncannily similar. Just a slightly deeper lilt.

“Ugh, of course I am.”

“Could have fooled me, since you, uh, you know, haven’t taken the time to answer any of my messages since yesterday.”

“I know, I’m sorry, I got… well, I--”

“... That’s the “my sister is struggling to decide whether she wants to tell me the truth or not” voice and I’m not here for it.”

“... I’ll tell you when I see you, okay? It’s easier in person.”

“You got a shitty tattoo. You got catfished. You ate a bad meal and now you’ve got shits? Just listing some slightly less traumatic options for you here.” The voice on the other line didn’t sound convinced.

“Listen buttlord, I told you, I’ll tell you when I get back.” Lup was smiling, despite herself, though the expression was a bit grim.

“And when, praytell, will that be?”

“Ah…” Lup glanced at Barry, and made a shrugging motion.

Barry hesitated, before whispering, “A-... do you want to stay here until you’re more comfortable with this..? I-- uh, I was gonna ask anywa--”

The voice on the phone interrupted.

“Lup, who is that? Is that a guy? Oh, Lulu, did you bail on me last night to get laid? Why didn’t you say so? Listen, I’m not, I’d never judge you for not wanting to walk-of-shame back home, okay, so don’t even worry about shacking up--”

“Taako, listen. I promise I’ll explain when I get back, but… I-- I can’t talk about it right now, not until I, um, not until I get everything figured out.” Lup’s voice was much louder, much more serious than before.

“... okay. You’re really good though?” This Taako’s voice had also evened, and he sounded edgy, “I was, I was really grasping at straws there. You’ve never not at least, yunno, shot me a message.”

“I know, I’m real sorry I worried you bud. I’m okay. I’ll talk to you more later. Love you.”

“See you soon?”

“Yeah.” And Lup hung on a silent line for a moment before the call ended with a beep.

Barry watched as Lup stared at her phone in perfect stillness before clearing his throat.

“T-... that your brother? Taako?”

Lup nodded, “... yeah. I dunno how he’s gonna take this. I can usually gauge his reactions pretty well, but we’ve, um, we’ve never really been through something like this before.” 

“Not… not a lot of people have.” Barry paused, “... Can I come closer? Is that okay? I want to give you something.”

Lup eyed him shrewdly before nodding, “Yeah, homie, I already told you I believe you. You can come over.”

“Okay, thank you,” he moved to her bedside and pulled something out of the back pocket of his jeans and offered it.

Lup hesitated, sharp eyes glancing from Barry’s hands to his tired, tired face before reaching out and taking it. It was wrapped in a soft washcloth, and when she unwrapped it, she found a pouch of deep red fluid.

“You, um… might find this sort of uncouth at first. It’ll feel a little unnatural and your instincts might fight it, but… this is blood, ethically taken from any surplus of donor blood, which is supplied to vampires like us for a low cost.”

“Ooooh, um… okay, so…” Lup passed the pouch from hand to hand, watching the blood shift in directions, “yeah, this is real, huh? This is it. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, right?”

“Well,” Barry scratched his cheek, “You really only have to feed once a day if they’re small meals, or you can feed a couple of times in one day and be good for a while as long as you’re not gonna be physically exerting yourself a ton. Our bodies are pretty self regulating, being, uh, kinda partially dead and all…”

“That doesn’t really make it sound more appealing, but,” Lup sighed, “If this is sort of the payment for being a cool and also sexy vampire then I guess bottoms up?”

Even as she said that, she continued to stare at the pouch, “So… do I like, bite it or? What do I do?”

“Haha,” Barry smiled, just a small one, but it crinkled his nose behind his glasses and the wrinkles under his eyes, “You can if you want. I usually use a straw. I can get you one if you want.”

Lup snorted, “A… a fuckin’ straw? Is this really just like a vampy juice pack?”

“Hang on.” Barry backed out of the room, and Lup didn’t miss that he didn’t turn his back on her until he was out of the room.

It gave her a sense of control— he was nervous, good, he should be. She didn’t know the extent of her powers, but to know that while she had stated she forgave and trusted him, he didn’t quite trust her just yet.

When Barry returned, it was with a shiny metal straw in hand, the end a sharp point, “So, this should just stab right through it.”

Lup’s lips twitched as her chest rumbled with stifled laughter, “Oh— oh, haha, oh my god. It’s straight up a capri sun. Do I need to make sure I don’t stab through it, too?”

“Yeah,” Barry nodded gravely, “it really blows to spill your meal.”

Lup giggled as she took the straw from Barry’s outstretched hand, weighing it in her fingers. It was heavy and cold. “Does it have to be metal?”

“Yeah, gotta watch out for the environment. I’m a pretty eco friendly guy,” he rubbed the back of his neck as Lup giggled from the bed, “it— it, uh… I think it tastes better through a metal straw, anyway.” 

“Of course you do.” But even still, she hesitated.

Barry broke the silence encouragingly, “So, that first meal will really awaken your energy. It’ll, uh, it’ll also sort of set off your hunger. You gotta be careful for your first feed, but, honestly, I’m… I’m real surprised you’ve been able to hold back as long as you have. You’ve got a lot of resolve.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty dope.” Lup answered offhandedly. Though, it was true, she was hesitating. She was brave and strong and didn’t balk at a challenge, but this was a different kind of roadblock for her.

This made it real. 

She knew that was foolish— it was already real. But the moment blood touched her lips she knew that would be it, and she wouldn’t be able to turn back. Not that there was anywhere to turn back to. 

“It’s okay…” Barry spoke gently, “I know it’s hard. But I promise, I’m— I’m gonna help you, if, um… If-If you’ll allow that, anyway. I want to make things right for you, I want you to feel normal and be able to live normally again.”

Lup furrowed her brow and turned toward him. She tightened her hand on the metal straw and a toothy grin formed on her lips.

“Oh, there’s not going to be anything normal about my life now.”

And she stabbed the plastic with the straw.


End file.
